A living room invaded by art and poetry
Before eccentric relatives invaded our homes over the Thanksgiving break, aliens invaded and subverted the home of Duncan College Masters Luis Duno-Gottberg and Marnie Hylton. On Nov. 21, the aliens, the Duncan Theater and Arts Committee, invited students to experience "Alien: An Evening of Art," a living room-style visual and performing arts exhibition.
Philomena Bradford, a Duncan College junior, with the help of Duncan's scholar-in-residence, Miguel Amat Martin, curated the show after Bradford was inspired by a living-room art exhibition she attended in Houston, hosted by the non-profit arts organization Voice Breaking Boundaries. The living-room venue naturally lent itself to another parlor-style art genre, the poetry reading. Bradford called on fellow Duncan junior and Thresher Copy Editor Johanna Ohm to assist her in creating a lineup of Houston poets to perform at "Alien."
Bradford, along with fellow committee members Duncan sophomore Sarah Percival and Duncan junior Estevan Delgado, urged Duncan artists to submit their work.
Though the exhibition was short-lived, lasting only two nights, "Alien" attracted a gathering of Rice students, who took their seats in the living room upon couches, mattresses and cushions on the floor.
"We threw cushions and pillows on the floor. We installed art on the ceiling. We rolled rugs against the wall and lit candles around a popcorn altar," Bradford said of the exhibition layout. A flower-print sleeping bag covered half a framed photograph; a tower of books functioned as a table centerpiece. Plants congregated in a corner, and a scuba diving suit hung from the wall.
"At times, and especially at a university that prides itself on its more technical, scientific fields, the idea of art can even feel alien," Bradford said.
The multi-media exhibition included work by Duncan artists, such as a painting of a pink-haired woman by sophomore Lisa Biletska, an architectural rendering by junior Adam Wagner, nude sketches by Bradford and a poster by Amat. Freshman Lydia Smith, sophomore Jessica Fuquay, freshman June Deng, junior Ryan Artecona, senior Ashley McGeary and Delgado also contributed visual artwork.
On a "stage" demarcated by a ladder and a windowsill, Ohm introduced the poetry and prose performers.
"I organized the reading in hope that students would also come to realize that there are places outside of Rice for students to become more involved in an arts scene," Ohm said.
The first four performers were all current or former students of the University of Houston. Joshua Gottlieb-Miller and John Shere are both master's degree candidates in the fine arts, Eric Ekstrand is an MFA graduate and David Thomas Martinez is a Ph.D. candidate. The last performer, Cedric Ary, who goes by the alias Brother Said, is the Slam Master of Houston Poetry Slam.
Gottlieb-Miller recited poems about eternity, Superman and Houston sinking into the ground. Ekstrand, who preferred to sit on the windowsill, reinterpreted the theme of alien into a theme of alienation. His poems explored feeling alienated in a coffee shop, in Washington D.C. and in autobiographical reflections of his weekends.
The successive performances of Sherer and Martinez were as contrasting as the poets themselves. Sherer, with his twill-patterned shirt neatly tucked into his freshly-pressed khakis, delivered poetry imbued with Christian imagery and allusions. Martinez, whose sleeve-tattooed arms spelled out "Poetic License," confronted the audience with poems of sexuality, regressive society and growing up as a Mexican in the inner city.
The final performer, Ary, presented the distinctive mode of slam poetry.
"He was the one who originally inspired me to continue going to Houston slams and kindled my fascination with the local poetry scene," Ohm said.
Unlike the other performers, Ary delivered his poetry without script. He was a performer but differentiated his work from stage poetry. He sat, stood, yelled and whispered as he earnestly recited poems of roaches, junior high bullies and the feeling of being a dad.
Though Rice students may remain reluctant to venture outside the hedges to engage with the Houston art community, Bradford believes the attendance and participation at "Alien" was a step in the right direction toward increasing Rice's awareness of art.
"A wise man, Ruben Sandoval [Duncan senior and president], once told me that you can't force, but you can foster," Bradford said of Rice's art culture.
Perhaps the next time the Duncan Theater and Arts Committee decides to have a living-room art exhibition, the size of the masters' living room won't even suffice.
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